But don’t depend on colour charts when buying wood stains because the colours are unlikely to reproduce accurately in print. Many DIY stores display small blocks of wood that have been stained in the actual colours, enabling you to get a more accurate idea of how the stains will come out. Useful as these blocks can be, the same colour wood stain will differ from manufacturer to manufacturer and different types of wood will stain differently, even with the same colour. The only way to be sure of the colour you’re going to get is to try a tester patch on the wood you want to stain, especially if you’re trying to match an existing colour or do some touching up. It’s better to build up the colour gradually because once it’s on, the stain will be hard to remove or make lighter. It may take quite a few coats to achieve the colour you want and you must get this right on your tester piece of wood first. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when applying the stain. Water-based wood stains tend to raise the grain of the wood, so you’ll need to sand the wood after staining it if you want a smooth finish. This problem aside, water-based products are generally the nicest to use as they dry quickly and have few fumes. For durability, you may wish to apply a clear varnish over the wood once you’ve stained it. Sealing the wood first will stop the colour bleeding. You can also seal the wood before staining, which helps ensure uniform absorption of the stain. It’s also a good idea to use sealer on the end grain, to stop it being too absorbent, and on oily woods, as the sealer stops the resins in the wood from bleeding through. Thinned shellac is a good general sealer. EVER wanted to spruce up shutters, furniture or the garden fence without wielding a paintbrush for hours on end? Then try the new Bosch PFS 65 Fine Spray Gun, which uses special technology to paint both smooth and heavily textured surfaces around three times faster than brushing. The gun uses a low-pressure system called SprayControl Technology, in which an air jacket accurately focuses the paint mist when spraying so that up to 15% less paint is used. The air jet also speeds up the drying process, meaning that a second coat can be applied straight away. There are four paint-flow settings, from a fine to a heavy spray, and the paint jet can be adjusted for horizontal, vertical or round spraying. Tanks with two different capacities are available for spraying surfaces of different sizes. The Bosch PFS 65 Fine Spray Gun is available from B&Q this month and from other retailers from September, costing around £99.99. ALTHOUGH driving in screws is one of the more basic DIY tasks, it’s not always the easiest. Screws in hard-to-reach places can prove tricky for even the most experienced DIYer, but the new PivotDriver from Black and Decker is designed for just this problem. This high-powered 4.8V screwdriver rotates into four different positions so you can deal with screws in even the most awkward spots. An on-board LED light provides added visibility when working in dark places, making it perfect for difficult under-the-sink or understairs jobs. The PivotDriver PP360-GB costs around £34.99. | 
